All,This offseason has been a tornado of news & events with our Seahawks, and as we move into the regular season, we see that insanity continuing as events on and off the field are dissected and judged by all of us. That is why we have .NET; a place where we as fans can come to and see what everyone else has to say about things, and also for you to be able to take part in the conversations.

This flurry of events has not only kept our attention focused on the team, but has also brought a much larger audience here at .NET. Our registered user count has skyrocketed over the last 6 months to well over 2000 individuals, and well over 150k separate visitors in just an average 2 weeks. Though this is an exciting time as we’ve become the single largest Seahawk-related website outside of the official team website, it has also brought back a large number of arguments & personal attacks.

It’s for this reason that I write this message and ask that each of you remember that this is a Seahawks fan forum, and aside from some visiting users from opposing teams, we all are here because we share a love and a passion for our Seahawks. The amount of bickering, posturing, and attacking has grown to intolerable levels recently as long-time posters fight with new posters, veterans with long-timers, and everything in-between. This has now turned into our moderating crew having to edit or delete posts and PM users about following the rules, and it has to stop now before we start the season, otherwise this place we love will becoming nothing more than a flamewar & troll haven.

As such, this message will now serve as the only “first warning” you will be getting to remember what this website is here for, and that there are specific rules in place in order to keep the conversations as enjoyable & productive as they should be. NET was built around spirited debate & fans that have different opinions & perspectives about the team & organization, so this is the foundation we need to get back to.

Personal attacks & posts made only to entice a negative reaction from the users will not be tolerated. Anyone that steps over the line will not be given a PM warning, but will be banned for anywhere from 1 day to a lifetime ban depending on their past history of moderated issues. Posts that are not meant to further the discussion in an open and constructive format can & will be deleted without warning until we get back to where we need to be. In the past, we've been extremely liberal in allowing posts that serve no purpose to the original topic, but we will not be swinging to the other side until people start getting the message.

If you have questions about what is allowed and what isn’t allowed, please familiarize yourself with the rules & FAQ in the following forum:viewforum.php?f=13And as always, please feel free to reach out to me directly to discuss this notice, or any actions taken on account of this notice. I’d be more than happy to discuss at any time. PM me or email me at rockhawk (@) seahawks.net (remove the parentheses)

Brilliant, I couldn't be happier with this. It's really reached boiling point, and the mods should be commended for their patience. Sad that it's had to come to this, but I guess it's the internet for you....

Football is not a matter of life and death. It's much more important than that. ~ Bill Shankley

Bigpumpkin wrote:All I ask is for posters to abstain from "back handed" political remarks on the Main Forum.

I agree. I really don't care what anyone's religious, political, etc., beliefs are when I'm participating in a football forum. We're all different and we have a right to our own beliefs. Leave that stuff at home.

Likewise, use common sense and civility when posting and all will be fine. Sometimes the anonymity of the Internet leads to people feeling a little too free to be inflammatory with each other. I'd like to think we're all smart enough to avoid that. We can agree to disagree and discuss those varying opinions without making it personal.

Bigpumpkin wrote:All I ask is for posters to abstain from "back handed" political remarks on the Main Forum.

I agree. I really don't care what anyone's religious, political, etc., beliefs are when I'm participating in a football forum. We're all different and we have a right to our own beliefs. Leave that stuff...

in the appropriate forum.

I'm with both of you on that. I come to this forum to escape politics -- the last thing I want is to be reminded of it, regardless of whether or not the cute little "reminder" aligns with my political beliefs.

BTW, MontanaHawk05 started an excellent thread about the use of hyperbole. Anyone reading this should read that.

49ers webzone: Win or lose, i hope you injure Sherman. Like a serious career ending injury. I don't want him to get paid.49ers webzone: noise should not be the overwhelming reason a team is favored. they need to spray noise-damping foam onto the ceiling of that place.

I love these boards, but especially with the JW deal it was disheartening to see even long-timers here go on each other. I'm used to spirited discussions, but not used to seeing attacks.

This place has a great vibe, and I've always been proud of the fact that .net has been envied by many other team's fans for our knowledgeable and intelligent fanbase here. That we're not just Seahawks cheerleaders, but FOOTBALL fans. I have pretty good football knowledge and a passion for the Seahawks, but rarely have to post because someone's already posted my opinion for me LOL.

Things will calm down once the JW thing blows over. It was an emotional issue for many here for personal reasons (fans of JW) or football reasons ('why not deal KJ instead?'), or a combination of both of these things. But cooler heads will prevail....and the mods may have to assist that process.

So, thanks again to Rock and the mod team for everything, and for this great community that we should all be proud of.

THANK YOU! I have been a longtime reader of this board and member of .net I actually lost teh board fro a couple of years and found you again early last season. While I rarely post, I read items and get team news almost daily. I live in upstate New York and get little team news. This is BY FAR the best source of accurate and timely information for everything SEAHAWK that I can get. Over the past several months, I have noticed a sharp change in the attitude and mood of the board and the opinions. The lack of tolerance for varied opinion gets old very fast, and I have found myself reading teh strings less and less as a result (SAD but TRUE). Thank you to the moderators and Mark for attempting to bring some order and peace back to .net

I couldn't agree more, after all we're just fans. I think fans (for the most part) should support their team, sure on occasion we can question decisions made but honestly it seems there are times when people use this forum just to vent irrational hostility in perpetual tantrums, they have ongoing long lasting feuds with fellow fans that honestly to everyone else watching are boring, assinine and pathetic. Sometimes the original subject is completely lost and the thread becomes some inside joke of biting sarcasm and personal attack, have some respect, for yourself and you fellow fan! Remember someone once said "this is just a game it's not like we're curing cancer or solving world peace". Get a grip! The latest rancor go round (Josh Wilson's trade) is a perfect example when you look at the negative threads that go on into infinity, page after page. Let it go, move on people...I haven't been on the forum as long as some, but I've been a Hawk fan for a long time (pre interweb) so I can be somewhat objective to my experience of finally contributing after following this forum for a while. This forum is very negative and one has to really be daring to say anything positive because the you will get burned more times than not. Count the negative threads vs the positive ones its no contest. So I agree, as a wise man once said "Can't we all just get along?" ...